Clemson saw two student-athletes recognized as ACC Football Players of the Week following their performances in the Tigers’ key road win over Atlantic Division rival Florida State.

Clemson’s Tyrone Crowder was named the ACC Offensive Lineman of the Week, while Tiger tight end Jordan Leggett earned recognition as the Receiver of the Week following Saturday night’s 37-34 victory in Tallahassee.

Georgia Tech’s Justin Thomas was voted the ACC Offensive Back of the Week for his standout performance in Saturday’s 38-35 win over Duke. The honor comes one day after Thomas was named the Walter Camp National Offensive Player of the Week, marking the fifth time this season an ACC quarterback has received that award.

Boston College’s Harold Landry and Florida State’s Derrick Nnadi (Co-Defensive Linemen of the Week), Virginia’s Micah Kiser (Linebacker of the Week), Louisville’s Jaire Alexander (Defensive Back of the Week), Virginia Tech’s Joey Slye (Specialist of the Week) and Duke’s Daniel Jones (Rookie of the Week) were also recognized.

The Blue Devils’ Jones was honored for the second time this season.

The ACC Football Player of the Week selections are determined by a vote of a 14-member media panel. Selections are announced via Facebook.com/theACC Mondays at noon by the ACC Digital Network. Be sure to like Facebook.com/theACC and opt in for live alerts to be the first to be notified.

OFFENSIVE BACK – Justin Thomas, Georgia Tech, Sr.-r, QB, 5-11, 185, Prattville, Ala. Thomas amassed 459 yards of total offense – the third-highest total in Georgia Tech history – and accounted for four touchdowns in the Yellow Jackets’ 38-35 win over Duke. He completed 10-of-14 passes for 264 yards and two touchdowns and ran 17 times for 195 yards and two scores. The fifth-year senior became the first Yellow Jacket with 400 yards of total offense in a single game since George Godsey totaled a school-record 477 yards against Virginia in 2001. In addition to posting the third-highest yardage total ever at Georgia Tech, Thomas’ 276.97 pass-efficiency rating was also the third-highest mark in program history. Thomas is only the fourth FBS player since 2000 with 190 rushing yards, 250 passing yards, two touchdown runs and two touchdown passes in a game and he single-handedly outgained 66 of the 106 FBS teams that played on Saturday. In the process, he also became only the 39th player in FBS history with 4,000 passing yards and 2,000 rushing yards in a career.

OFFENSIVE LINEMAN – Tyrone Crowder, Clemson, Jr.-r, OG, 6-2, 340, Marston, N.C. Crowder was Clemson’s top blocker in Saturday night’s win over Florida State. The redshirt junior had a career-high 94 percent grade with four knockdowns and did not give up a sack for his 70 snaps against a Florida State front that ranked among the best the Tigers had played, according to Clemson coaches. Crowder was a big reason the Clemson offense gained 511 yards and scored 37 points on the night, as the Tigers won at Florida State for just the second time since 1989.

RECEIVER – Jordan Leggett, Clemson, Sr., TE, 6-5, 260, Navarre, Fla. Leggett established a Clemson single-game record for receiving yards by a tight end when he had five receptions for 122 yards and a touchdown in the 37-34 win at Florida State. Leggett had three catches for 70 yards on the Tigers’ game-winning drive. He caught a 37-yard scoring pass from Deshaun Watson with just 2:06 left for what proved to be the game winner. It was the second consecutive year Leggett had a 100-yard receiving game against Florida State. Leggett also had a 91 percent blocking grade with three knockdown blocks when he was not receiving passes from Watson.

CO-DEFENSIVE LINEMAN – Harold Landry, Boston College, Jr., DE, 6-3, 250, Spring Lake, N.C. Playing back in his home state, Landry helped key Boston College’s 21-14 win at NC State on Saturday. Landry recorded his ninth sack of the season and his fifth forced fumble to give the Eagles the ball at the NC State 21-yard line. The sack/fumble led to a field goal for the Eagles. Landry ranks tied for first nationally in sacks and forced fumbles in 2016. He leads a Boston College defense that has now held opponents to under 100 rushing yards in 20 of the last 33 games, allowing just 31 to NC State. This season, Boston College has not allowed more than 50 rushing yards in all four victories.

CO-DEFENSIVE LINEMAN – Derrick Nnadi, Florida State, DT, Jr., 6-1, 312, Virginia Beach, Va. Nnadi made his presence in the backfield felt throughout Saturday night’s game against third-ranked Clemson. The junior finished with eight tackles, including two tackles for loss and one sack. Four of his tackles were solo stops. Nnadi also knocked down one pass attempt.

LINEBACKER – Micah Kiser, Virginia, Jr., ILB, 6-2, 240, Baltimore, Md. Kiser was a disruptive force in the Cavaliers’ near-upset of No. 5 Louisville. He led all players with 14 tackles in Virginia’s 32-25 loss. Kiser had two sacks, three tackles for loss and recovered a fumble as Virginia managed to hold Louisville’s high-powered offense below two of its season averages. The Cardinals came into the game averaging 53.6 points and 616 yards but managed just 32 points and 508 yards versus the Cavaliers. On Monday, Kiser was named a semifinalist for the Dick Butkus Award, which is presented annually to the nation’s top linebacker.

DEFENSIVE BACK – Jaire Alexander, Louisville, So., CB, 5-11, 188, Charlotte, N.C. Alexander picked off two passes in Saturday’s 32-25 road at Virginia, his fourth and fifth interceptions this season and the sixth of his career. Alexander also broke up one pass and made six solo tackles in the fifth-ranked Cardinals’ come-from-behind win. Alexander previously had interceptions against Syracuse and Clemson (two) this season.

SPECIALIST – Joey Slye, Virginia Tech, Jr., PK, 6-1, 207, Stafford, Va. Slye tied an ACC record with six made field goals and tied a Virginia Tech single-game record with 21 points in last Thursday night’s 39-36 win at Pitt. The junior connected on field goals of 31, 21 and 22 yards in the first half, and was then successful from 26, 37 and 22 yards out in the final two quarters. Slye also had six touchbacks on kickoffs in the win, which allowed the Hokies to move back into a first-place tie with North Carolina in the ACC Coastal Division standings.

ROOKIE – Daniel Jones, Duke, Fr., QB, 6-5, 210, Charlotte, N.C. Jones completed 22-of-36 (.611) passes for 305 yards with two touchdowns and added 73 rushing yards in the Blue Devils’ 38-35 loss at Georgia Tech. Jones’ 378 total offensive yards mark the fourth highest single-game total by a Duke rookie. Jones was 8-of-11 for 134 yards and a touchdown on third down attempts and led the Blue Devils to a 559 yards of total offense on the afternoon. Jones spearheaded Duke’s rally from a 28-7 halftime deficit to a 35-31 lead in the fourth period by directing four consecutive touchdown drives in the second half.

Team of Destiny: Inside UVA Basketball's improbable run

Team of Destiny: Inside Virginia Basketball’s Run to the 2019 National Championship, by Jerry Ratcliffe and Chris Graham, is available for $25. The book, with additional reporting by Zach Pereles, Scott Ratcliffe and Scott German, will take you from the aftermath of the stunning first-round loss to UMBC in 2018, and how coach Tony Bennett and his team used that loss as the source of strength, through to the ACC regular-season championship, the run to the Final Four, and the thrilling overtime win over Texas Tech to win the 2019 national title, the first in school history.

Subscribe

Augusta Free Press content is available for free, as it has been since 2002, save for a disastrous one-month experiment at putting some content behind a pay wall back in 2009. (We won’t ever try that again. Almost killed us!) That said, it’s free to read, but it still costs us money to produce. The site is updated several times a day, every day, 365 days a year, 366 days on the leap year. (Stuff still happens on Christmas Day, is what we’re saying there.) AFP does well in drawing advertisers, but who couldn’t use an additional source of revenue? From time to time, readers ask us how they can support us, and we usually say, keep reading. Now we’re saying, you can drop us a few bucks, if you’re so inclined.

Subscribe

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 106,970 other subscribers

Email Address

Augusta Free Press launched in 2002. The site serves as a portal into life in the Shenandoah Valley and Central Virginia – in a region encompassing Augusta County, Albemarle County and Nelson County and the cities of Charlottesville, Staunton and Waynesboro, at the entrance to the Blue Ridge Parkway, Skyline Drive, Shenandoah National Park and the Appalachian Trail.